Have you checked the oil in your car recently? It is tempting, is it not, to put off looking under the hood for problems with your personal vehicle, especially if it is fairly new and does not leak oil in the driveway. Big, reliable vehicles should be able to get by without being nursemaided, right? So it would seem, but that is not the case with jet airliners. Commercial jet airplanes are inspected by professional airline mechanics on average about every 48 hours. The big jets—and smaller jets for that matter—must be inspected for several important reasons. They are extraordinarily expensive pieces of equipment and potential problems must be detected and remedied before they can become big expensive problems. They also are carrying irreplaceable cargo—human beings, plus important supplies as well. Finally, jets experience incredible loads and stresses and must be checked constantly for any potential problem.

Replacement Parts and Fasteners Must Be Perfect

There are countless points on jets where parts come together and must be securely fastened. When those replacement parts and fasteners are put into service, they must be perfect. For such auxiliary parts, you want the top fastener distributors available. You want suppliers who have obtained the most exacting, fully tested parts. These replacements must function as flawlessly as the parts they are replacing.

There Are Old Planes But No Old Jets

If you have been to one of the marvelous airshows around the nation, chances are you have seen World War II vintage aircraft and perhaps some even older than that. What you seldom see are heritage jets from the 1960s and 70s. The earliest jetliners were safe and dependable, so why are they not still flying. The answer has to do with pressurizing the jets at high altitudes. Doing so eventually results in metal fatigue. Thus big jetliners are typically retired before they reach age 30